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ripe
[ rahyp ]
adjective
- having arrived at such a stage of growth or development as to be ready for reaping, gathering, eating, or use, as grain or fruit; completely matured.
Synonyms: ,
- resembling such fruit, as in ruddiness and fullness:
ripe, red lips.
- advanced to the point of being in the best condition for use, as cheese or beer.
- fully grown or developed, as animals when ready to be killed and used for food.
- arrived at the highest or a high point of development or excellence; mature.
- of mature judgment or knowledge:
ripe scholars; a ripe mind.
- characterized by full development of body or mind:
of ripe years.
- (of time) advanced:
a ripe old age.
- (of ideas, plans, etc.) ready for action, execution, etc.
- (of people) fully prepared or ready to do or undergo something:
He was ripe for a change in jobs.
- fully or sufficiently advanced; ready enough; auspicious:
The time is ripe for a new foreign policy.
- ready for some operation or process:
a ripe abscess.
- Archaic. drunk:
reeling ripe.
ripe
/ ɪ /
adjective
- (of fruit, grain, etc) mature and ready to be eaten or used; fully developed
- mature enough to be eaten or used
ripe cheese
- fully developed in mind or body
- resembling ripe fruit, esp in redness or fullness
a ripe complexion
- postpositivefoll byfor ready or eager (to undertake or undergo an action)
- postpositivefoll byfor suitable; right or opportune
the time is not yet ripe
- mature in judgment or knowledge
- advanced but healthy (esp in the phrase a ripe old age )
- slang.
- complete; thorough
- excessive; exorbitant
- slang.slightly indecent; risqué
Derived Forms
- ˈ, adverb
- ˈԱ, noun
Other Word Forms
- l adverb
- n noun
- - adjective
Word History and Origins
Word History and Origins
Origin of ripe1
Idioms and Phrases
In addition to the idiom beginning with ripe , also see time is ripe .Synonym Study
Example Sentences
And then, on my way to the shoot, I saw a loquat tree that had ripe fruit on it.
“Star Trek” is a franchise that’s always seemed ripe for exploration in a theme park.
Legendary Swedish screen siren Greta Garbo declared in 1941 at the ripe old age of 36 that she would be taking a "temporary" retirement.
Machinery, automobiles and toys - sectors led by China and Thailand - are ripe for tariff-driven relocation.
Farmworker advocates have also called for changes, saying the program is ripe for exploitation — because a worker’s permission to be in the country is tied to the employer — and should be bolstered with additional protections.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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